Building a Collection

[Chebe6886]

Just to be clear, buying multiples isn't about having multiple adults, Its about increasing your odds of getting females and reducing your future costs.

Get, say (for example) 5 P. cam slings....probably cost 50 or 70 bucks. In 6 months you will be able to sex them...get one female, now you have 4 mature males in a few months, that you can sell cheap for 30 (or more) a piece.....now you have your female, free, and have nearly doubled your money back in a year....get a second or third female out of the group and the worth doubles or triples depending on how long you want to keep them....don't want to sell the males or extra females?.... fine, trade them...now with your original investment, you can have 2, 3 or 4 more species simply by trading. Now after 6-10 months, that paltry original investment has yielded not only a female, but several other species at pretty much no cost past the original investment., then you can do the same with the groups of slings you traded for and on to infinity if you are up for it.

This is how one makes the collection work for them, instead of you working for your collection. For those with significant others, its easier to justify getting another species when one is getting [almost] free stuff or making a little $ on the deal, than to be constantly trying to justify spending again.

My working motto has always been "work smarter, not harder".

When I was buying a lot of slings 8-10 years ago I did exactly that. Sold off males to breeders and frequently got multiple females of popular species. A lot of which I sold locally and ultimately made money as well as ended up with a lot pretty girls

 

[CommanderBacon]

I guess I should also mention, this is being done with a wife that is being very supportive but has also said, "I don't want Spiders all over our house!" Haha. So if I end up with a male, and only get to have him for a couple years, that still sounds worth it to me if it means I get to check out a few different species with my limited space allotted for my new obsession.

My partner and I have agreed that I can have as many spiders as I want as long as they remain confined to approved locations. I have two spots in the common area that I'm allowed to keep spiders, but my room is open season. This works out great for me (I now have over 50 spiders), so maybe you can propose limits based on spacial constraints (2 bookcases, for example) as opposed to numbers.

I personally think your list is fine. IMO tiny slings aren't that difficult to care for as long as you keep a corner of the substrate damp and give them appropriately sized prey, and the species you selected are good for someone who has been caring for a GBB already. I second Vanessa's points about dwarf species being skittish and fast, though. Just because they're small doesn't mean they can't teleport across your desk and hide themselves inside your mouse or something, so be mindful of where you're working during housing/rehousing and always always always have a catch cup.

 

[Larry Braverman]

My partner and I have agreed that I can have as many spiders as I want as long as they remain confined to approved locations. I have two spots in the common area that I'm allowed to keep spiders, but my room is open season. This works out great for me (I now have over 50 spiders), so maybe you can propose limits based on spacial constraints (2 bookcases, for example) as opposed to numbers.

I personally think your list is fine. IMO tiny slings aren't that difficult to care for as long as you keep a corner of the substrate damp and give them appropriately sized prey, and the species you selected are good for someone who has been caring for a GBB already. I second Vanessa's points about dwarf species being skittish and fast, though. Just because they're small doesn't mean they can't teleport across your desk and hide themselves inside your mouse or something, so be mindful of where you're working during housing/rehousing and always always always have a catch cup.

Thanks for the advice! I've cleared out space in our unfinished room in the basement under the guise of just clearing out some old junk, but secretly I'm hoping the shelving units I've cleared off can be packed with terrariums, haha